Late goal advances Bulldogs in girls soccer tourney

BEDFORD – One goal was all it was going to take to win Tuesday’s Division II girls soccer preliminary game between Bedford High School and John Stark.

The Bedford defense just had to make sure that, if the Bulldogs were going to score that one goal, it was going to stand up.

Katherine Downer got the goal for No. 7 Bedford, putting a shot into the top right corner of the net over goalie Emily Mulcahey with 4:32 remaining in the game, and the Bulldogs defensive trio of Casey Levis, Colby Clutter and Hailey Kunkel and goalie Aubrey Ouellet shutdown the No. 10 Generals in the second half to win 1-0.

The win moves Bedford (13-3-1) into the quarterfinals, where it will face No. 2 Lebanon, which defeated No. 15 Bishop Brady 5-0, at 3 p.m. Friday in Lebanon.

The Bulldogs won the regular-season meeting with Lebanon 2-0, but that game was on Sept. 2. Since then, Bedford has lost midfielder Carley Pestana, who has been out for the last three weeks with an illness and will likely be out the remainder of the season.

The win over John Stark was the third straight game in which Bedford has scored just one goal, and the first time this season the Bulldogs have won when scoring less than two (1-3-1).

“Nobody really took control of the game,” Bedford coach Michelle Winning said. “It was back-and-forth. Neither team was connecting on things and part of that was just hard defense. That game could have gone either way. We were lucky enough to put one in.”

Scoring chances were minimal through the first 40 minutes of the game, as each team was quick to fall back whenever the other might have a chance at a break. Bedford did get two shots on goal in the first half, but both were easily saved by Mulcahey.

Bedford came out strong to start the second half, but John Stark was able to turn aside each rush by the Bulldogs and eventually pushed play down to the other end of the field.

But once down there, the Generals ran into Bedford’s defensive trio and Ouellet.

“All three backs have distinct characteristics and to give credit to all three is the best thing to do,” Winning said. “Hailey Kunkel stepped up hard every play. Casey obviously stepped up and broke up a lot of plays. Colby brings a lot of composure back there. It’s the three of them together, their organization. Aubrey made some great saves. They have experience and it definitely shows back there.”

Allison Harris appeared like she might put John Stark on the board with about 15 minutes left in the game, sending a shot from left to right, but Ouellet made a diving stop, covering the ball at the last moment. Harris had another chance a few minutes later, but Ouellet was able to punch the ball out of harm’s way, at least for the moment.

That save set up corner kick for John Stark, and Harris sent in a ball that went off Levis and right to Kelsey Heinemann. The John Stark junior lofted a shot that looked like it might go over Ouellet, but she was able to extend and push the ball into the crossbar. The shot rebounded down in front of her, and she covered it before anyone else could get close.

“It’s just pure reaction,” Ouellet said. “I just had to get it to a spot where I could control it. I knew it would have been hard for me to catch. I knew I would get it, it was just a matter of how I was going to get it.”

Bedford pushed play in the other direction, and less than two minutes later, Downer sent a shot from about 15 yards out over Mulcahey and into the corner of the net. Clutter recorded an assist on the score.

The teams returned to the back-and-forth play of the first half after the goal, as the Bedford defense kept the Generals from putting together any more scoring opportunities.

“It feels great,” said Ouellet, who is one of 10 seniors. “We’ve worked really hard this and it’s just nice to come together and get a good win. This is the last year and every year we just come so close and we never quite get there. This year is my last stand. I want to go out and I want to play hard and I just want to win.”